Anatoly, a nice young soldier, finds a baby in a cabbage patch one night and wants to adopt him. This idea might have been taken from the half-forgotten Russian cinema of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, when there were very popular lyric films about sweet lovers and handsome babies. And, in fact, at first sight The Sensitive Militiaman seems to be a nave, bright movie about love and compassion awakening in its hero.

But K.Muratova remains faithful to herself. Her film is a subtly stylized, unusual toying with mythology, ironic quotations and eccentric characters… all making it impossible not to notice a connection with her previous works – The Long Seeing Out (1971), Learning the World (1978), The Change of Faith (1988) and others.

The slightness and transparency of this picture may be a surprise for those who expected a new Asthenic Syndrome.

Muratova’s talent, however, was always unpredictable, original, mobile. For some, her cinema is affected;

for others, this writer included, it is attractive and masterly.

Fantasies and Parables… A Fearsome Story The authors of Gongofer speak frankly and ironically about the old and new clichs of fearful cinema tales. I wouldn’t, however, call this film, directed by B.Kilibaev, a clear parody. It is a fantasy on the theme, with hints of the stories of Nikolai Gogol, its style in the spirit of the genre’s aesthetics.

Kolka, a young Cossack, comes to the capital with his uncle to buy a bull for breeding. Initially the film recalls Pig Woman and Shepherd (1941) with its pompous fountains and frank, intellect-unburdened faces of the heroes that look as if they were created especially for the cinema, glorifying the best collective farmers in the world. But soon after, the unpretentious comedy about provincials in Moscow for the first time breaks off as the ill-fated Kolka meets the blond beauty Hanna – who turns out to be a witch and exchanges eyes with the guy during their love ecstasy.

Kilibaev deliberately makes this perfidious substitution shocking and natural. The camera keeps our attention on the spreading eye slime in the palm of treacherous Hanna, surrounded with a hellish glow. And then a chain of funny and rather frightening episodes begins, in which Kolka and his uncle try to get his stolen eyes back.

Gongofer can be reproached for its eclectic lack of style. But despite that Kilibaev managed to make it a dynamic show, whimsically combining myths of the epoch of Socialist Realism with special effects like Joe Dante’s.

What Boredom!

E.Nikolaeva’s film Sextale is derived form Vladimir Nabokov’s airy, refined story The Tale, as is clear to any admirer of the works of famous Russian-American writer. But I’ll avoid comparing screen and prose because during all the action of Sextale the original plot’s development is absent. The filmmakers, probably, isn’t want to write more dialogue than Nabokov did and decided to fill in the pauses (the story is short and film is long) with displays of whimsical decorations, costumes, smoke and fog. The set decorators and artists really worked hard on this. It needed something else, however… such as actors with skill. On one hand L.Gurchenko is supple and musical in the role of The Devil, tempting a pretty young man with displays of erotic desire. (It is the tempter’s whim that the fellow can choose – until midnight – any number of the most beautiful women, providing this number is odd.) On the other hand, there are inexpressive performances, in unemotional erotic scenes, by all the other actors. Add to this an unjustified reserve of action, slack cutting, and badly recorded sound. In short, it is very boring – despite the participation of the bright Gurchenko with her playful expression, biting irony, and natural sense of style.

Rather than seeing the movie, it’s better to read Nabokov.

Too Obvious an Allegory A rain of festival awards and unanimously enthusiastic opinions greeted the film Drumaniada by S.Ovcharov practically from the first days of its release. “A unique contribution to the development of Russian cinema”, “faithful to the theme of love for life” – those were some phrases praising the picture. My voice, I’m afraid, will be omitted from the chorus.

Drumaniada seems to me the weak work of a talented director.

Previous fantasies by Ovcharov – Clumsy (1979), Flight of Fancy (1983), Left-hander (1986) and his version of Saltykov-Schedrin’s The Story of the One Town under the title The It (1989) – were created in an atmosphere of strict censorship that began to weaken and die only at the end of the ‘80s. Using the traditions of Russian folklore and comedy tricks from the great silent films, Ovcharov created a world built on eccentric allegory. I can’t say that director openly presented puzzles and symbols to his viewers, but the satirical sharpness of his films (The It especially) probably was read by every attentive admirer of the tenth muse.

In contrast, unnecessarily straightforward, newspaper-style satire can be felt in Drumaniada in spite of its allegorical plot. The premise itself is interesting: to make a one and a half-hour parable – about the misadventures of a funeral orchestra’s drummer who inherits an enchanted drum labeled “Stradivarius” with which he travel around Russia – without the characters speaking a single word.

But… again there’s a captious “but”… the story of this poor wretch is good enough for a short film only. Forty minutes into the picture one feels the exhaustion of the method, as one monotonous episode follows another. Even a scene in which the wonderful drum turns into a TV set for several minutes is just boring. And the climactic sequence of the visit of foreign homeless people to Russia, taking place in a town’s rubbish heap, is rather crudely made, and the actors’ performances are inexpressive.

An image of this country as a rubbish heap populated by homeless beggars has become the Russian media’s most widespread clich. The film’s other symbols are equally straightforward and shallow. The signing of treaties for collaboration between Russian and foreign beggars won’t impress anybody as a satirically courageous fantasy. And there are a great number of such scenes. The behavior of the main character – the sad clown, a pale reflection of Baster Keaton – and the development of early episodes become too predictable. The only good thing about Drumaniada is the music on the soundtrack: Beethoven, Mozart, Mahler – this is forever!

Ivanov after Godard For his directorial debut in feature cinema, E.Ivanov chose an ambitious project requiring a subtle stylistic gift: anew version of Jean-Luc Godard’s brilliant 1959 `A Bout de souffle(Breathless). Ivanov’s film is called Nicotine, and its action takes place not in Paris at the end of ‘50s, but in Petersburg of ‘90s. On the whole, the plot’s lines – and even several details of the characters’ dress – are retained. But something like the fantasies of Leos Carax and Jean-Jacques Beinex breaks the style of the “new wave” at times. In general, this film is close to the classical understanding of the word “remake” without parody, admixtures or eccentric pranks.

It’s a pity that Ivanov insistently demands we pay attention to his source, the legendary Godard’s debut with Belmondo and Seberg in the leading roles. He does this by making the characters attend a lecture by cinema critic and director O.Kovalov, who introduces the film `A Bout de souffle to Petersburg’s movie fans;

and he also restages one of Godard’s press conferences with the help of a double.

This persistence is worthy of a better application for two reasons. First, viewers who know the creative work of Godard very well, or who at least saw `A Bout de souffle? Guess the family tree several minutes into Nicotine without any oral prompts.

Secondly, viewers who don’t know who Godard is will be helped neither by lecture episodes nor by stills of his old masterpiece to perceive Nicotine as a remake: the visual associations, cutting and plot parallels remain “unreadable”.

Yet Ivanov’s biggest mistake, it seems to me, is in the unfortunate choice of actors who very much let him down. It’s hard to suppose, certainly, that a young director might his the target and find Russian performers whose scale of personality and charm would live up to Belmondo’s and Seberg’s But having cast actors deprived of not only inward charm also attractive appearance, Ivanov had to use them as visual effects, simply opportunities to underline – in strange, long passages of light and shade – the black and white style of the film.

The emotional influence `A Bout de souffle? In which the reckless Michel, having accidentally killed a cop, tried to fight his fate till the tragic realization of the exhaustion of his life, is left below the surface by the director of Nicotine.

That is why, to my mind, this is not a warm declaration of love to the French “new wave” but the fruit of cold, professional calculation.

To Believe the Prophecy for a Moment… The film of E.Riazanov get sadder form year to year. The Prophecy is perhaps his most sorrowful. It even has a gloomy outset: a famous writer (O.Basilashvili) learns from a Gypsy fortune-teller that only a day is left for him to live and he is to meet with an unexpected man.

In that mystical tone a young man (A.Sokolov) with the same name and same temple scar appears in the writer’s flat.

Who is this mysterious double – phantom or guardian angel? The answer remains open throughout the film.

So the time of summing-up comes for the tired writer, shaken by life. He is well-to-do in Russian terms: he has an apartment in the center of Moscow, a car and video camera, and his books are published in Paris. But, characteristically for a man living in a country of endless admonitions, distress his look reveals the effect of freedom’s absence. And it’s not because of the peculiarities of his biography (his father perished during the repressions, his mother is Jewish – which he couldn’t mention for a long time – and his wife died in a car accident). The brand of unfreedom is stamped on practically everybody in Russia, except those under 20.

In that regard, the choice of actress for the leading female role was perfect: French star Irene Jacob Though her character is just a modest cashier in a bank, she can be at once distinguished from the surrounding Russian fuss by her uncommon expression. She becomes a fairy princess and, probably, the writer’s last love… for this princess is colored by the shade of nostalgia for unrealized dreams.

In contrast with Riazanov’s previous works (Dear Elena Sergeevna, etc.), there is little topical populism – although the conclusion is connected with one of the most widespread script devices in Russia today (escaping from Mafia pursuit, the hero tries to leave for Israel). Sensitive to his audiences’ mood, Riazanov couldn’t but feel that a mass interest in cinematic political investigations and revelations has almost disappeared, while the need for melodramatic love stories is great.

Actually, The Prophecy, can’t be called melodrama. There are comedy episodes (a visiting fanatic suggests that the writer burn himself in Red Square as protest against something – it’s not important against something – it’s not important against what, the main thing is to perform the action), and there are elements of a parable. I don’t find such a genre alloy organic and convincing. This seems to be the director’s attempt to get a second wind.

And I’m Again Walking about Moscow Thirty years ago, whistling happily, the hero of young Nikita Mikhalkov walked through Moscow streets wet with rain.

It was a time of hope, joy was felt there. The Metro stations shone, shady lanes in the park attracted. The heroes of another G.Danelia’s firm film Nastya are also young, also fall in love, make dates in the Metro and jump on the day’s last bus or streetcar, but the intonation has become sad, and even the funniest moments are tinted with this sadness like maple leaves in autumn.

Telling the fairy tale of a Moscow girl who one fine day turns into the beauty from an advertising poster, Danelia deliberately puts aside the gloomy old song with which modern Russian “expos” films are so rich. And in this film there are no fights in doorways, no scenes of undressing and no “bold” language of modern Russian cinema.

Danelia has cast charming A.Abdulov as the representative of new “democratic power”. Yet the film doesn’t fall into the expected wrathful pathos. Abdulov’s hero is petty in his nouveau riche manners, fussy, boastful, infinitely proud of his position as prefect and his participation in big-time politics, but he hasn’t lost his wonderful outbursts of soul.

The main success of the film is a duet of actresses playing the role of the 18-year-old stationery clerk. Before the magic change Nastya was a nice girl, unhampered by men’s attention, who tried to break out of the solitude, poverty and grayness of surrounding life with its mother-yardkeeper, small flat and a brightly made up shopgirl colleague who, month after month, suggested dubious entertainments with “cool guys”.

Nastya after the miracle is a beauty. With surprise she discovers how much appearances influence the life of a man… not, often, in the best way. Happening upon an art show in the subway where “men of culture” get very drunk and petty thieves pretend to be businessmen or weighty sponsors., Nastya feels herself a stranger in this festivity of pseudo-life.

Territory of Love The Wind from the East… Nikita Mikhalkov’s Urga reached Russia in the glow of a triumph at the Venice film festival. This picture about a possible harmony with nature, about the attempt of a common Russian driver to understand the world of Mongolian nomads, was received in Moscow with restraint, in spite of additional praise from Rome and Paris. There were a lot of things the film was reproached for: An attempt to run away abroad from the difficulties of Russia’s troubled time, for a tourist’s point of view on Asia and its people, for lacking the intuition of Bertolucci, and so on.

Urga it rather vulnerable to such reproaches, though they don’t seem to me well grounded. On the other hand, charges against the director’s and script’s prosaicness (as in a talky restaurant episode about the essence of the Russian nation) are fair.

But all this is put aside when you see the wonderful landscapes of the imposing steppes, shot by V.Kaluta’s camera, and when you hear the thousands of sounds.

The simplicity and ease of the Mongolian and Chinese actors frees a comical story (how a Mongolian herdsman’s wife sent him into town for contraceptives, lest they be punished for violating a law controlling the birth rate) from any bad tone. The professional European actor usually has serious problems when working among Asiatic performers, but V.Gostukhin’s hero is well realized and convincing.

So, after a long interval, Nikita Mikhalkov decided to return to the free-breathing cinematograph.

And God Created Kiss Director A.Karpikov, the pupil of Sergei Soloviev, is talented, flashy, and skillfully stylized. His The Fish in Love (1989) was an elegant fantasy on themes of the French New Wave, transformed in the atmosphere of Kazakh’s nighttime capital.

Air Kiss continues a search in the same direction. The film can seem an affected melodrama about how a beautiful nurse prefers a lame gardener and a bandaged moto-racer to her respectable fianc, the chief doctor of her hospital. Yet it is bright and ironical, with a hint of the aesthetics of Roger Vadim and the unforgettable image of Brigitte Bardot. In short, it’s postmodernism with a parodic layer that is not very intensified and does not disturb the emotional atmosphere at all. And to their credit, the young actors play sincerely, animatedly.

A doubtful spectator, after seeing Karpikov’s film, may ask: What about something Kazakhian? All the characters are played by European actors – where is national vividness? But who says Russians must make movies just about Russians, and Kazakhs about Kazakhs?

A Day Without Arguments In You’re My Only One director D.Astrakhan succeeds in expressing the sensations of average Russian who for one wonderful day experience a “holiday of life” in which there is no place for nostalgic sentiments and hot arguments on spirituality, in which businessmen accompanied by suave friends drive about in Fords and Mercedes, lazily count wads of dollar notes, buy foreign delicacies and telephone New York right from their cars.

The life of 40-year-old Eugeny (A.Zbruev) resembles thousands of others. He has a modest occupation as engineer in some institution, a flat in a standard tall block, a wife (M.Neyolova) dreaming of escape from the closed circle of humiliating poverty, and a 16-year-old daughter for whom her ill-provisioned parents are a vivid demonstration of how one mustn’t live – the embodiment of her dread of destiny.

The film’s opening episodes create a familiar sketch of “common family of intellectual workers”: reproaches of Eugeny by wife and daughter, unmistakable hints that he is a typical failure, that all others managed to do better long ago, that he ought to join a number of fellow employees in a Russian-American joint venture, etc. And then, dreams… about trips over the ocean, Hawaiian beaches, Dior perfume and Cardin dresses… Zbruev and Neyolova play this without pressing, without relishing the muddle of their characters’ lives. Even scenarist O.Danilov’s move into fantasy doesn’t make their performances less truthful. It turns out that the firm organizing the joint venture is headed by one of Eugeny’s former schoolmates whose younger sister Anna comes to Russia from USA. Anna has loved her “only one”, her “unique Uncle Eugeny” since childhood. Now she is ready to become his fairy godmother – or princess: buy him a smart suit, make him the representative of the American firm in Russia, drive him in a Mercedes along the Petersburg streets.

But pride prevents Eugeny from becoming dependent on his old friend, although pride is not the main problem in his affair with Anna: “I don’t love you, you see! Don’t love!” he cries to his benefactress in a riveting sequence. A lot of things are mixed in Zbruev’s expression. It would be good if he spoke so because he was deeply in love with his wife, but not at all… love has smoothly changed into habit. And if it’s possible to live without rapturous love with one woman, then why is it impossible with another? There is quite another thing, too – fatigue: hopeless awareness of the fact that his life is over, that he has no strength to restart everything from zero.

The bitterness of this feeling doesn’t disappear after either Eugeny’s return to his wife or a Felliniesque postscript with a birthday celebration in the snowy garden of his house. Having escaped the turn of fate, the heroes of You’re My Only One will, several days after the touching departure of Anna for America, again poison each other’s lives with mutual criticism… and dream about a separate room for their daughter.

The film reminded me of the best works of E.Riazanov (Beware of the Car, Irony of Fate) and G.Danelia (The Autumn Marathon). D.Astrakhan can tell a story emotionally, vividly and with psychological truth, in spite of its fantastic turns.

Identification of Clich Antonioni, Taviani, Wenders… The Identification of Wishes, director T.Hamidov’s movie, is obviously made for people who know cinema. Quotations from famous directors’ classic films (slow plot development, psychological pauses, etc.) are spread among pseudo art-house movies.

The story – about three teenagers who, learning that a friend’s mother works as a prostitute at night, decide to “visit her” – in presented, for the most part, naturalistically. The people, though not convincing, are sufficiently developed to show Hamidov’s thoughts about the necessity of moral borderlines… which the characters don’t have, and which lack marks them inhuman. Yet there’s not much kick to the film, no discovery. Instead of postmodern stylization, it as dull collection of clichs.

Hamidov doesn’t seem to have prospects.

Though He is Clever and Handsome Petersburg’s atmosphere seems to create in movie critics and cinema scientists the wish to show directors how real films must be made – not only in theoretical articles but on the set. Following O.Kovalov (The Gardens of the Scorpion, Island of the Dead), another Russian film critic in St-Peterburg – Y.Pavlov – has decided to try his hand at directing.

Pavlov’s philosophical The Creation of Adam can be regarded as you please, but to my mind it has one great advantage. The film is beautifully made. In its world are yellow sandhills, the play of Baltic waves, the deserted streets of Petersburg’s outskirts, the fashionable costumes of the main characters… shots that seem to belong in a picture gallery.

Unfortunately, for me, this is the only attractive aspect of the film, because the story – of a handsome, 30-year-old homosexual who finds clarity in life and love after meeting an effeminate guardian angel – left me indifferent. The fashionable Gay theme evoked only weak surprise because the characters didn’t invite a sharing of emotions with them, while the slow development of action reminded me of Wim Wenders’ late films and brought boredom. I can watch the “slow” films of Michelangelo Antonioni for hours, charmed again and again by the silent pauses of L’Avventura, La Notte or L’Eclisse, so my dislike of The Creation of Adam is not due to its pace and cautionary plot, but to a serious discrepancy between its author’s perception of film and the aesthetic preferences of this spectator.

It happens sometimes in life: you meet a man who is dressed with taste and seems to be clever, but it’s boring to speak with him. Antipathy arises in a moment… sometimes at first sight. The same holds true for films;

you watch some with pleasure, you can’t wait for others to end.

It was bad luck for me to see The Creation of Adam. This is not my cinema, this is the cinema of Y.Pavlov, corresponding to his ideas of how stylish directors’ films should look.

Red Riding Hood & Bluebeard Despite its trendy modern-Mafia story, A.Chechulin film A Wife for the Maitre d’Hotel is in fact a free fantasy on the theme of two famous fairytales by Charles Perrot.

A young, really nave beauty (A.Nemolyaeva), though foolishness and the effects of alcohol, finds herself in the room of a professional maitre d’hotel – a University graduate who knows eight languages. He spends the night with her and, untrue to stereotype, proposes to her. That’s the point where the story of Red Riding Hood being eaten by the wolf turns into the story of Bluebeard. Showering his wife with presents, luxurious outfits and awesome travel tours, the intellectual maitre demands only one thing: that she not interfere with his criminal deeds. But, of course, the temptation is too powerful, and she has secret affairs with her husband’s best friends – a gangster and cop – whom he cold-bloodedly kills when he learns the truth.

You say in the original tales Bluebeard killed non his wives’s lovers, but the overly curious ladies themselves? But that’s Chechulin’s fantasy, modernizing Perrot. His finale follows suit: disappointed in her husband, our heroine returns to her mother’s house and… becomes a prostitute.

So it’s better to go into the streets than to live with a loveless husband! If only this idea had been presented to us as humorous parody. But Chechulin just retells Perrot’s story using the language of Emile Zola.

The Time Has Passed V.Bogachev’s Dark Alleys is based on the novels of Ivan Bunin, classic of Russian literature. The best thing about the film is the duet of actors O.Bogacheva and D.Lubshin – she with the slightly mocking eyes, he with the shyness of a tutor student, both in their days of transient happiness, all shown with appropriate respect for the Nobel Laureate’s work and a will to re-create the atmosphere of Russia at the beginning of the 20th century.

Episodes framing the dramatic story, however, turn out badly. Roughly naturalistic, reformed with extreme theatricality, they resemble the tricks of a roving street circus. You don’t believe these characters could be related to the Russian elite of Nikolai II’s epoch.

It’s hard for today’s filmmakers to get rid of the post-Soviet outlook and create anything slightly resembling the images of Bunin’s heroes. Dark Alleys is another unrealized attempt to relinquish the Russian “cinema of gloom” for the beautiful world of passionate love evoked by classic literature.

How to Shoot the “True” Film About Russia (Ironical instruction for Western cineastes) As a member of the Union of Russian Cineastes, I've worked up a set of brief instructions for Western producers, writers and directors who want to make «true film about Russian life»:

1. Say you're basing your movie on a Russian story.

2. Give the leading male positive role to an actor with a «manly» appearance.

3. To show his endless attraction to Russian nature, church and children. Have him mouth deep psychological thoughts about «the essence of being».

4. Make the principal Bad Guy look nasty with uncommon eyebrows and a curly black wig. His residence must have foreign posters on its flat-painted walls and Cosmopolitan magazine on the table. He should show an eager desire to run off over the border, visit underground clubs, make fun of Russian boldness and - the main thing have an affair with another's Slavic wife.

5. It's necessary for the heroine not only to show a bright Russian manner but wardrobe to match... such as big «sarafan»(a female costume in old Russia). She can have her weaknesses, certainly, as does everyone. Even commit adultery. None of it is her fault, however;

she is simply a victim of the Mafia.

6. Between the Bad and Good Guys of a True Film about Russia you can't omit the «intermediate link»: one hesitating character - an alcoholic doctor, for example - who is torn between Good and Evil.

7. For the creation of action tension it's okay to use: explosion of secret laboratory;

a car accident;

stripteases in rock club, and location footage in Paris.

8. Photographically, a Fine Arts representation must be made through poetic contrast: milky fog drifting over green fields and a pensive cow will definitely underline the alienation evoked in the Russian soul by your images of the cold shine of Western skyscrapers, luxurious shops and bottles of White horse (more suggestive of deceitful, negative characters than Stolichnaya vodka).

9. If, seeing the end result, critics and some spectators are indignant over the primitive drama, dialogue and performances, and the director's pretentious amateurism, they should be rebutted by special advertisements in the mass newspapers and TV-channels.

10. If that doesn't work, than the last advice is simple as everything that's brilliant: declare publicly (preferably on TV) that your film can be understood and appreciated only by True Lovers of True Russian Culture.

9.10. The Program of Media Education Course for University Students This work was supported by the Research Support Scheme of the Open Society Support Foundation, grant N 18/ Abstract The realization of the theoretically and methodically grounded system of the Media education on the material of the audiovisual arts, promotes not only the forming of the aesthetic acknowledgement and individual creative thinking of the student youth, but also prepares it for the conduct of the circles and optional lessons, special courses on the problems of media screen arts.

The object of course - the theoretical and practical activity of the students, who acquire the aesthetic knowledges with the help of the cinema, television and video, develop their creative and moral potential, the individual thinking, the independence of the analytic judgment, study to teach the pupils on audiovisual basis.

The subject of the course is the artistic and pedagogical opportunities for using the screen arts in the educational process. The goals of course is at first, to define the place and role of the screen arts in the sphere of the artistic interests of the students, the psychological and pedagogical conditions of the development of the student's individuality by the means of the cinema, TV, video. Secondly, the aim is to elaborate the effective system of the formation of the aesthetic consciousness /on the basis of the perception of the audiovisual time-space reality in the cinema this perception unites the experience of the apprehension of the traditional arts/, to develop the individual thinking and creative potential of the students, to prepare the future teachers for the Media education and training of the pupils on the audiovisual material.

The General characteristics.

The realization of the theoretically and methodically grounded system of the Media education on the material of the audiovisual arts, promotes not only the forming of the aesthetic acknowledgement and individual creative thinking of the student youth, but also prepares it for the conduct of the circles and optional lessons, special courses on the problems of media screen arts.

The object of course - the theoretical and practical activity of the students, who acquire the aesthetic knowledges with the help of the cinema, television and video, develop their creative and moral potential, the individual thinking, the independence of the analytic judgment, study to teach the pupils on audiovisual basis.

The subject of the course is the artistic and pedagogical opportunities for using the screen arts in the educational process. The goals of course is at first, to define the place and role of the screen arts in the sphere of the artistic interests of the students, the psychological and pedagogical conditions of the development of the student's individuality by the means of the cinema, TV, video. Secondly, the aim is to elaborate the effective system of the formation of the aesthetic consciousness /on the basis of the perception of the audiovisual time-space reality in the cinema this perception unites the experience of the apprehension of the traditional arts/, to develop the individual thinking and creative potential of the students, to prepare the future teachers for the Media education and training of the pupils on the audiovisual material. It's assumed that the training of students for the Media education of the pupils on the basis of cinema, TV and video may become the effective method of the development of the aesthetic acknowledgement /the perception, taste, the skill of the artistic analysis and so on/, the creative faculties / through the practical mastering of the audiovisual language, the theatrical and situative games and so on/, the individual thinking of the audience, with the condition of the maximum use of the potential opportunities of the cinema, TV, video with the help of the Pedagogical model.

This model includes: the mastering of the creative skill by the students on the basis of cinema, TV and video, the forming of the apprehension of the artistic structure of the screen arts' works / by the method of the emotional and meaningful correlation of the units of the cinema narration/;

the ability of their analysis, the acquaintance with the main milestones in the history of the cinema, TV and video, with the modern social and cultural situation;

the studying of the methods and forms of the Media education and training of the pupils on the material of the screen arts;

the use of the obtained knowledges and skill in the process of pedagogical practical work in the secondary school establishments.

The present model foresees the method of the lessons, based on the problematic, in the form of the game and others.

These forms of education develop the individuality of the student, the independence of his thinking, stimulate his creative abilities thanks to the direct involvement into the artistic and creative activity, the perception, interpretation and analysis of the audiovisual structure of the narration, the adoption of the aesthetic knowledges.

The following basic forms of activity are distinguished:

1. The mastering of the principles of the creative skills on the basis of the films, TV programmes /the writing of the small scripts, the work on the «ad posters», the amateur video shooting/.

2. The forming of the aesthetic perception, interpretation and appraisal of the productions of cinema, TV and video, rising to the identification with the author, that is to the comprehension of the complex of the audiovisual artistic images, individual creative mentality.

3. The obtaining of the knowledges about the history of the screen arts about their role and place in the social and cultural life.

4. The study acquirement and practical use of the method and program of the Media education of the pupils on the basis of the screen arts.

The game's method and the problematic method of the leading of the collective films' and telecasts' discussions.

The directions on the aesthetic perception: the collective seeing a film;

post communicative stage: the discussion of the film seen by the above-mentioned discussions of the screen art' works in the student audience. In the capacity of the basic criterion of the students' faculty for the artistic analysis of the audiovisual, space-and-time structure of the screen's works the skill of the comprehension of the varied figurative world of the film is distinguished. The skill of the comprehension of the logic of the sight and sound, plastic development of the author's thoughts is also very important in the complex unit of the various means of the organization of the sight and sound.

According to the worked out system, the program of my special course foresees the study of the parts «The Basic Stages of the Screen Art's History» and «The Training of Students for the Media Education of Pupils on the Basis of the Screen arts».

During the realization of the program of the last part, the following stages were foreseen:

the acquaintance of the future pedagogues with the problems of media-education and training of the pupils by the means of the screen arts in the Russian and foreign pedagogic, with the forms and kinds of the present education;

the study of the method of the Media education of the pupils on the material of the cinematograph, TV, video in the system of the humanities, optional lessons, cinema-video clubs for the pupils;

the use of the obtained knowledges and skills during the student pedagogical practical work /the leading of the clubs and optional lessons by the future teachers, the discussion of the control lessons etc./.

In the process of the forming experiment, the future teachers mastered the creative point of view in the work with the pupils, with the help of the games in roles, the tasks of the creative nature, the attitude to the pupils, proceeding from their individuality, differentiated attitude to the pupils, proceeding from their individuality, cultural development. The attention of the audience was drawn to the aesthetic education of the pupils by the screen arts' means: the purposeful selection of the works of art, the definition of the main tasks, organizational and methodical principles, best conditions forms and methods /the persuasion, stimulation, the organization of the problem situations etc./ of the lessons with the pupils. Such lessons must be corresponding to the process of the formation of the pupil's creative individuality, aesthetic perception of the films and TV programmes, including the concrete practical tasks, the use of the technical means control and appraisal of pupils' work.

The tasks include: the writing ones /the working out of the plan-summary of the lesson, conversations, the opening words before the collective seeing, competitions, the choice of the themes and the ground of the plans of the course's and diploma's works on the problems of the pupils' education by the means of the screen arts/, the «theatrically-situation's» /the business-like games «The Lesson», «The Conversation with the pupils» on the audiovisual basis, the theatricalized sketches on the themes of the study of the cinema-video-club for the pupils etc./.

The criterions of the fulfillment of the present studies /as ones of the control lessons during the pedagogical practical work are: the skill of the future teachers to draw up the plans and choose the subjects of the different kinds of works with the pupils theoretically grounded and methodically literately, to lead the studies of the clubs and optional lessons on the audiovisual material.

In the result of the realization of the formative experiment, the standards /levels/ of the criterions of the professional readiness of the aesthetic education of the pupils on the basis of the screen arts rose. Thus I got the evidences of not only the effective work of the worked out system /the resultant aspect/, but the proofs of the necessity of the maximum development of the knowledges and skills, corresponding to the worked out criterions of the professional readiness for the aesthetic education of the pupils by the means of the cinema, TV and video.

THEMATIC PLAN OF THE PROGRAMME OF COLLEGE /UNIVERSITY/ COURSE "THE TRAINING OF STUDENTS FOR MEDIA EDUCATION OF PUPILS ON THE BASIS OF THE SCREEN ARTS /CINEMA, TV, VIDEO/".

Part 1. The Development of Students' Aesthetic Perception & Ability for Analysis of the Screen Arts' Works.

N Title of the theme: Lectures Practical (hours) : (hours):

1 The first test for students - 2 The first students' experiment of the screen arts' review - 3 The problem of aesthetic perception of screen arts 2 4 The aesthetic analysis of the screen arts' works 2 5 The test for students: the results of first part of Media Education - 6 The students' screen art’s' reviews as the results of the first part of Media - education Part 2. The Basic Stages of Screen Arts' History and Peculiarities of Modern Sociocultural Situation.

N Title of the theme: Lectures Practical (hours) : (hours):

1 "The Great Silent" (1895-1930) 10 2 The Stage of Sound Cinema (1926-Present 20 3 Development of Television (1935-Present) 6 4 Development of Video (1970-Present) 4 5 The Role of Screen Arts in the Modern Sociocultural Situation 2 Part 3. The Training of Students for Media Education of Pupils on the Basis of the Screen Arts.

N Title of the theme: Lectures Practical (hours): (hours):

1 The Problems of Media Education in the Modern Science 6 2 The kinds & Forms of Media Education on the Basis of Screen Arts 4 3 The Use of the Screen Arts in the System of the school's subjects 6 4 The methods of Media (Screen Arts) Education’s Studies 8 5 The methods of Cinema-video-club's studies for the pupils 6 6 The Use of the Knowledges and Skills in the Process of Students' Pedagogical Practice - 7 The Final Test of Students - 8 total: 168 hours 76 THE PROGRAM OF COURSE "THE TRAINING OF STUDENTS FOR MEDIA EDUCATION OF PUPILS ON THE BASIS OF SCREEN ARTS (CINEMA, TELEVISION, VIDEO" Part 1. Development of students' Aesthetic Perception and Ability for the Analysis of the Screen Arts' Works.

Theme 1. The first test for students.

Results this test give insight into the artistic preferences of the concrete auditorium in the field of screen arts (the most popular genres, themes, functions, heroes, other motives of perception of the works of cinema, television, video), what is allowed for teacher at the realization of the all complex of training course.

Theme 2. The first students' experience of the screen arts' review.

The students’ reviews let to bring out the initial levels of aesthetic perception and capacity for the artistic analysis of the works of screen arts, characteristic for this auditorium.

Theme 3. The problem of the aesthetic perception of screen arts.

Installation on perception. The process of artistic perception (picturesque generalization, the synthesis of elements audiovisual and space-temporary narrative, the conditions of perception). Levels and types the artistic perception of screen arts («primary identification», «secondary identification», «complex identification»). Ages, social, professional, national and another peculiarities of the perception of the works of screen arts. The phenomenon of the mass-scale success;

of video different types and genres. Technical types cinema, television, and video: absence colors (color, or black-and-white image), of sound (silent, sound, etc.), by the peculiarities of the format of image (habitual, cinemascope, etc.), volume of images (ordinary, stereo, etc.).

Documentary screen arts, cinema-TV-equipment, reportage, essay, portrait, interview, the application of archival audiovisual materials and etc.), their purpose, tasks, functions. Scientifically popular cinema and television: the popularization of the scientific ideas by means of screen arts. Instructive and knowledge function of the scientifically popular films and telecasts.

Instructional films and telecasts: absence of popularization, calculation on vocational Feature screen arts (films, telecasts, music videos, their specific, thematically diversities, etc.). Documentary in the feature films and artistic television. Animation screen arts, their role, tasks, functions. Ties and the screen arts. Music videos how the characteristic example of the amalgamation of the several types of screen arts, their peculiarity.

Connection of the cinema genres and artistic television with the genre of literature and theater. Specific of the genre of screen arts (tragedy, drama, melodrama, comedy, detective, thriller, musical, etc.). Conception of mass-culture genre. Synthesis of the genres - the characteristic phenomenon of contemporary screen arts.

The process of the creation of the works of screen arts. Students' receipt of creative abilities on material cinema, television, video, computer games and interactive programs, the seeing and the discussions about the works of screen arts.

The main causes of the popularity of the works of screen arts (folklore bases, mass-culture genre, author's intuition, system «emotional switching», use of the function of compensation, recreation, etc.).

Theme 4. The aesthetic analysis of screen arts' works.

The consideration of the contents of the episodes of the works of screen arts, the detecting of the brightest characteristic regularities of the film or telecast on the whole. Attempt is parsed in the logic of author's thinking: in the development of conflicts, of characters, of ideas, of sound-plastic world, etc. Detection of author's concept and the expression of students' personal position about the Media screen work.

Theme 5. The test for students: The Results of first part of Media Education.

Students’ answer of questionnaires, of identical themes, what were used at the beginning of studies of training course.

Theme 6. The students' screen arts' reviews as the results of the first part of Media education.

Comparison of the initial and the final works of students allowing to infer about that, how was changed their level of artistic perception and capacity for the artistic analysis of the works of screen arts.

Part 2. The basic stages of screen arts' history and the peculiarities of modern sociocultural situation.

Theme 1. «Great Silent» (1895 - 1930).

From photograph to the cinema. Creation the first films. Cinema began centuries: it principal items and genres.

American Silent cinema. Impressionism in French movies. Expressionism in German movies. Surrealism. Russian Silent cinema (1915-1918). The creative flow of Russian cinema 1920-1930.

Theme 2. Stage of Sound Cinema (1926- Present) The first sound movies. Development American and English Mass-culture cinema (comedy, detective, western, thriller, musical, horrors, etc.). The French cinema of the epoch of democracy (30-th years) and German occupation (1940-1944), the first post-war year old «Poetic», «romantic» and «black» cinema. Entertainment French cinema.

Totalitarian tendencies in Russian and German cinema: themes, problems, ideas, and heroes. The mass-culture Russian cinema 30-40-s. Neorealism in Italian movies: problems, tendencies, social roots, and subject area, stylistics. Significance of Neorealism for the development of world art. American cinema 30-60-s. American Star system. Decline of neorealism and «pink neorealism» in Italian movies. Entertainment cinema the epochs of «Italian miracle».

«Poetic cinema» and the theory of the «flood of life», «picturesque cinema» and another flow. The Russian «author's» and entertainment cinema 60-s. The Russian reinforcement of antidemocratic tendencies with reference to movies into second half 60-s: causes and consequences.

Triumph of American entertainment cinema of 70--90-s years. European cinema 60-90-s. Censorship and the creative complexities of realization of Russian author's ideas in contemporary theme. Russian 70-s - of 80-s years. The change of Russian sociocultural situation (second half 80-s), the abolition of censoring, emergence on screen previously banned films.

Opening new thematically, problematical and genres possibilities Russian cinema. The further reinforcement of tendencies computerization American mass-culture cinema. The problems of hiring out and the blunt drop of attendance in the circumstances market, developments cable, and satellite television. The fundamental change of situation in East Europe cinema on the whole (in connection with the ruin of authoritarian political regimes, by the corporation of Germany, by the breakdown of Soviet union, etc.).

Theme 3. The development of Television (1935- Present) The first tests of creation electronic TV in the mid of 30-s the years of XX century. Basic principles TV. Television canals and standards. Black-and-white and color television. The American artistic television of 40-s years: genres and themes.

The first artistic television 50-s. Priority direct television of 50-60-s years. Color television. TV 60- 70-s years devoted to literature, to theater, to music, painting, to architecture, choreography, to circus, photographs, and cinema and to other types arts.

Entertainment programs of world television 70- 80-s years. Priority video. Top TV masters 60 - 80-s. Phenomenon of serial.

TV-theater and it tradition. The effect of sociocultural situation on the change of character, areas and forms artistic TV.

Computer technician and television. FX. Tutorial television. The main tendencies of world television 50- 80-s years.

Television cinema. Cable and satellite television. The main tendencies of the world television of 90s years.

Theme 4. Development of video (1970- Present).

Video 70-s: the first attempts of creation home video. Contemporary video: VCR, video camera, etc. video-cinema and music videos. Possibilities video and it significance for artistic upbringing by the facilities of screen arts. The outlooks of development video.

Theme 5. The role of screen arts in modern sociocultural situations. Specific and the relationship of screen arts, their connection with other arts in the context of contemporary sociocultural situation. The role of audiovisual culture of screen arts in the living of contemporary man. The peculiarities of contemporary sociocultural situation (the intensive development of the audiovisual facilities of information, computer technology, cinema-video-market, ordinary, cable, satellite television and etc.).

Specific communication of the Media contact and role in this process of phenomenon mass-popular cultures. The outlooks of screen arts in the plan of the improving of pedagogical process in schools, Universities.

Chapter 3. The Training of Students for the Media Education of Pupils on the Basis of the Screen Arts.

Theme 1. Problems of Media Education in the Modern Science.

Media and Media Education: the problems of terminology. The contemporary state of the pedagogical cadres of from the point of view preparing for Media education and to artistic upbringing of pupils on the material of screen arts. Role of Media education, of artistic upbringing on material of cinema, television, video in contemporary pedagogical process. The synopsis of theoretical proceedings and examinations devoted to problem of Media education and artistic upbringing by the film and TV.

Dignities and blemishes, the choice of the most effective ways.

Theme 2. The kinds & forms of Media Education on the Basis of Screen arts.

Programs by Media Education, the facilities cinema and television. Media Education on the material of screen arts in the context of school disciplines. Lectures. The evenings devoted to screen arts. Expositions and amateur press about the problems cinema, of television, video. The Media education lessons. Cinema-video-clubs. Amateur cinema-video-studios.

Reproductive, heuristics, playful, problems lessons of Media education. The development of full-value artistic pupils' perception of screen arts (model, methods, etc.), the criteria of the aesthetic development of the auditorium in the field of screen arts.

Scientifically pedagogical activity the most known media teachers. Media Education Programs of UNESCO, programs of European Union.

Theme 3. The use of screen arts in the system of school 's subjects.

The application of screen arts in the process of the teaching of literature, of music, of pictorial art, histories and other disciplines.

Theme 4. The methods of Media (Screen Arts) Education's Studies.

The common model (the levels of artistic development and the perception of the works of screen arts;

the development of audiovisual perception and the abilities of the artistic analysis of works cinema, television, video;

the formation of creative abilities on the material of screen arts), program and methods the principles of lessons for pupils as to the bases of screen arts.

The facilities of Media Education on screen arts (lectures, conversations, of written paper - reviews screenplay, «adaptation», narrative on behalf of the film's hero, telecasts;

cadrages, collages, cinema-video-shooting etc.;

heuristics, playful study competitions, etc.;

discussions, conference on various themes bound with video;

excursions, meetings with men of screen arts.

The methodology of the arranging of the sociologic examination of the artistic preferences of pupils in the field screen arts.

Theme 5. The methods of cinema-video-club's studies for the pupils. Discussion cinema-video-clubs, it task and functions. The methodology of arranging this clubs (opening address, reviewing of the film, telecasts, collective debate). The possibilities of organization of video club in schools, at the cinema-theaters, the houses of culture, in the establishments of complementary education.

Theme 6. The use of the Knowledge and Skills in the Process of Students' pedagogical practice.

Media Education, artistic upbringing taught on the material of screen arts in the process of the pedagogical practice of students in schools, the establishments of complementary education (the centers of aesthetic upbringing, clubs), boarding schools, children's houses, summer centers: main methodical principles and shaped works. Practical application received knowledges during arranging current study with pupils.

Theme 7. The Final Test of Students.

This tests sums up to all curriculum, gives insight into that, how deeply are internalized by students received knowledges and abilities, what changes in artistic perception and the development of students' audience.

9.11.The special course “The mass and individual terror in the mirror of the Russian cinema-art (The feature films of the sound period)” This work was supported by the grant of Open Society Institute, Budapest, Hungary: International Higher Educational Support Program, Course Development Competition (HESP – CDC, 1998).

I. Introduction a) Locating the content of the course within the discipline This special course is connected with the big discipline of 'Organization of Culture Activities on the Material of screen Arts', including 'History of Cinema and Media Education'.

Proceeding from the research that was devoted to different aspects of the Theory and History of Cinema-Art, as one of the branches of the Theory and History of Art, we can make a conclusion: the analysis of the theme of terror and terrorism in the Russian cinema remains uncharted;

no existing school book, monographs or thesis contain a chapter devoted to this vital question.

At present the Theory and History of Art, Cinema art lacks researches, monographs, devoted to the theme of mass & individual terror in Russian cinema of the sound period (1930s-'90s). The researches of Russian specialists in the Theory and History of Arts were until now devoted to such traditional themes as 'historically-revolutional', 'heroic patriotic', war, etc. In this theme context films of '30s-'40s were viewed, in this or that degree concerning our topic, for example, works by I. Dolinsky, S. Ginsbourg, N. Lebedev, A. Groshev, V. Zhdan, N. Tumanova, L. Belova, etc. The theme of terror as a separate theme was not regarded in the published works analyzing films of the '50s-'90s either (N.

Therefore, no Russian research claimed to have a special analysis of the theme of mass and individual terror in the Russian cinema art.

Thus, the problem of the course is, for the first time in the Theory & History of Art, to study, analyze and make it a system of evolution of the interpretations of the themes of terror and terrorism in Russian cinema-art of the XXth century, taking into consideration the social & cultural, political & ideological context, types of plot schemes and characters, basic authors' concepts of the themes of mass & individual terror, peculiarities of the artistic style. The chronological framework: the sound period of the Russian cinema-art /since 1931/ till the present day.

The general social & cultural context, within the limits of which the problem is, is the following: Mass and individual terror is one of the most dreadful crimes of the XXth century. During its biggest part of existence, the Russian cinema art touched upon the theme of terrorism. In different years the interpretations of the terrorists' action were not only different, but quite opposite too. For instance, in the early '30s-'70s the activity of Russian Communists Special police (V.C.K.) was interpreted positively, in the end of '80s & '90s V.C.K. was shown as the organization that headed the mass terror. In the films made in the '60s (SOFIA PEROVSKAYA by Leo Arnshtam, etc.) about individual revolutionary terror, the main characters were treated sympathetically, while in the films of the '90s (screen versions of the novels by Boris Savinkov, etc.) individual terror is unequivocally turned down.

No doubt, the terrorism theme was never a leading one in Russian cinema art, despite the fact that for some political, economic, and military reasons in the Russian society of the '90s, terrorism began to increase threateningly. Cinema in different genres (drama, thriller, detective story or a comedy and parody) began to turn to the problem of this course more and more often.

b) Locating the course within the curriculum.

This special advanced course is connected with the curriculum of Pedagogical Institute. This curriculum includes other Art and History disciplines: 'World Art Culture', 'World History' and 'History of Russia', 'Aesthetics', 'History of Cinema and Screen Arts' and 'Media Education'.

c) Student's assumed knowledge basis for course participation 1. the main stages of World History;

2. the main stages of Russian History;

3. the main stages of World Art's History;

4. the main aesthetic conceptions;

5. the main stages of World Screen Art's History;

6. the main stages of History of Russian Cinema-Art II. Objectives of the course a) Academic Aims (within the discipline) - to define the place and role of the theme of mass & individual terror in the Russian cinema art of the sound period;

- to study a social, cultural, political and ideological context, main stages of the evolution of the theme of the course in Russian cinema-art, directions, aims, tasks of the development of this theme, basic authors' concepts of Russian feature films of the 30's-90's, where to some extent the theme of mass & individual terror is touched upon;

- the analysis and the classification of the model of contents, genre modifications, stylistic aspects of the Russian cinema art of sound period, dealing with the terror theme ( the classics in the history of Russian cinema - the works of Friedrich Ermler, Mikhail Romm, Leo Arnshtam, etc. and films that haven't been analyzed yet - made in the '80s-'90s as well);

- the aesthetic development of the creative personality of a student, his faculties for the perception, interpretation, analysis and the appraisal of the author's position in a film. On this basis, the eagerness of a future teacher for the education of pupils, with the help of the screen arts, is forming.

b) Learning Outcomes The course 'THE MASS AND INDIVIDUAL TERROR IN THE MIRROR OF THE RUSSIAN CINEMA-ART (THE FEATURE FILMS OF THE SOUND PERIOD)' is important for Russian students - future pedagogues, because Russian society needs the true History of Modern Screen-Arts. During the analysis of the scientific literature and concrete works of Russian cinema art of the '30s-'90s of the XXth century, touching upon the theme of terrorism, students will know the aims and tasks (political, ideological, moral, aesthetic, etc.), plot, genre models, basic authors concepts of various interpretations of this theme in Russian cinema. And when Russian students finish the Pedagogic Institute they will teach pupils the true History of Russian Cinema-Art, including the theme 'Mass and Individual Terror'.

III. Course Detail THEMATIC PLAN OF THE COURSE Themes Hours for Hours for Lectures Seminars 1 The Mass and individual terror in the mirror of the 2 Russian cinema-art. The stage of the '30s 2 The Mass and individual terror in the mirror of the 1 Russian cinema-art. The stage of the '40s 3 The Mass and individual terror in the mirror of the 3 Russian cinema-art. The stage of the '50s - early '80s 4 The Mass and individual terror in the mirror of the 4 Russian cinema-art. The stage of the late '80s -' 90s Total 20 hours 10 a) Lecture Synopsis A paragraph outlining the aims and content of each lecture.

1. THE MASS AND INDIVIDUAL TERROR IN THE MIRROR OF THE RUSSIAN CINEMA-ART. The Stage of the '30s The aims of lecture is - to define the place and role of the theme of mass & individual terror in the Russian cinema art of '30s;

- to study the social, cultural, political, ideological context, directions, aims and tasks of the development of this theme, model of contents of films on the topic, their genre modifications, authors viewpoints and stylistics.

Content of the lecture:

The '30s are one of the most complicated, contradictory and contrasting periods in the history of the Russian film industry (17, 5). 'Directors - socialist realists... had to bless and sometimes glorify mass repression of 'public enemies, (...) in a word aid adoption of the ideological myths of Stalinism into mass consciousness' (17, 34). The totalitarian system realized the political & ideological importance of the theme of terror. Though it didn't occupy the leading place in the Russian cinema, its propaganda role was rather big. With the help of a screen, the necessity of the 'revolutionary terror' towards 'class enemies', 'alien elements', etc. was put into the heads of millions of Russians. Such films became the apparent basis for the adoption of Stalin's thesis saying that as socialism develops, the class struggle should grow and become violent...

General social, cultural, political & ideological context of the '30s:

- mass terror in the totalitarian regime towards peasants that lead to the hunger in early '30s;

- total abolition of the private property (that was revitalized during the Russian communist's New Economic Policy of the '20s;

- intensive industrialization (mainly of heavy and military industries) at the cost of enormous efforts of people);

- mass repression of millions of Russians - from the lowest to the highest strata of society;

- intensive adoption of communism with the intensive repression of the Christian ideology;

- intensive militarization of the country, unleashing war conflicts.

The film industry that touched upon the terror theme to support the main lines of the state policy of the Stalin's regime, was set strict propaganda tasks which served as the basis for the film authors' conceptions:

- to prove that Bolsheviks' enemies camouflage themselves and are ready to make an act of terrorism any minute to seize power;

- to show that terror towards the public enemies is justified and inevitable;

- to convince viewers that anyone of their family, relatives, neighbors and friends can turn out to be a 'class enemy', who must be revealed and destroyed.

Genre modifications: on the whole the genre is that of a drama (war epic, historical). The style of such films was determined by the strict rules of so-called 'socialistic realism': instead of the experimental (especially in the form) film production of the '20s, the style of the ordinary, everyday life (in fact, often embellished) emerged with its consistent plot, theatrical performance of actors...

The dominating models of film plots: terror of Bolsheviks towards the so-called 'class enemies' and 'public enemies' and vice versa ('The Great Citizen' by F. Ermler, 'Aerograd' by A.Dovzhenko, 'The Party Card' by I. Pyriev, 'Lenin in 1918' M. Romm, etc.). The latter film by Romm had a mission to justify mass repression (17, 50). As far as films about collectivization are concerned, in such films a dramatic stereotype exists: 'poor peasants at once realize the advantages of a collective farm, middle class peasants hesitate, 'kulaks' (rich farmers) undertake sabotage and murders with the help of White Guard officers, foreign spies, priests and salesmen coming from the blue (17,69).

Even children's films of Stalin's period were swarming with enemies. In the '30s, when Stalin destroyed peasantry, enemies were usually 'kulaks', White Guards, who helped spies & saboteurs. The great support for enemies of the Soviet regime was clergy because at that time thousands of Russian new martyrs were killed by the godless power (6, 105).

2. THE MASS AND INDIVIDUAL TERROR IN THE MIRROR OF THE RUSSIAN CINEMA-ART: The Stage of the '40s.

The aims of lecture is - to define the place and role of the theme of mass & individual terror in the Russian cinema art of 40's;

- to study the social, cultural, political, ideological context, directions, aims and tasks of the development of this theme, model of contents of films on the topic, their genre modifications, authors viewpoints, stylistics, the differences from the stage of 30's.

Content of the lecture:

At the beginning of the war with the Nazis, Germany has visibly changed the social, cultural & ideological context, against which the Russian film industry developed. Class struggle and the struggle with religion stepped back, there was no mass repression against farmers, the leading place was taken by the struggle with fascists (the Germany with which Stalin had previously set friendly relationships).

General social, cultural, political & ideological context of '40s:

- hostilities on the territory of Russia from 1941 to 1944 and the war in the Eastern Europe & in the Far East in 1944-1945;

- intense development of war industry, re-equipment of many plants to serve military purposes at the cost of peoples' efforts;

- adoption of the communism ideology to patriotic slogans;

- establishment of totalitarian regimes, that were totally dependent on the Kremlin almost in all the countries of the Eastern Europe in the late '40s;

- intense reconstruction of the Russian post-war economics in the late '40s;

- come-back of mass repression in the late '40s - early '50s (struggle with cosmopolitanism, anti-Semitic campaign, etc.);

The film industry, dealing with the terror theme to support the main policy of the Stalin's regime of the '40s, was set the following propaganda tasks, which made up the basis for the artistic conceptions of film authors:

- to show that the Nazis terrorize Russian people and want to make them slaves;

- to convince the audience that return terror is justified & necessary to win the war;

- to convince the audience that one should be on alert, because Nazi agents & saboteurs who may be nearby;

must be disclosed & destroyed;

Genre modifications: generally a drama (war, historical). The style of these films is not much different from those of the previous decade, however there's more realism in showing war in everyday life. The dominating models of film plots: terror of the Nazis towards the Russians (shootings, executions, tortures, etc.), return terror of the Russians (partisan raids, spies, shootings of the Nazis, etc.) towards the Germans ('Rainbow' by M. Donskoy, 'Zoya' by L.

Arnshtam, 'The Young Guard' by S. Gerasimov, etc.). The playwright stereotype: Nazis destroy the peaceful, unruffled, happy life of people and capturing a town or a village they begin mass terror towards the population, including women and children, drive Russians away to Germany for hard labor, etc. People begin to struggle with enemies: in the army, in partisan groups, in secret organizations. In passing spies & saboteurs, traitors are disclosed...

The only exception was the film by Sergei Eisenstein 'Ivan the Terrible' in which the merciless and bloody repressive state mechanism was shown, 'Oprichnina' (Special tsar’s police) terrorizing Russia by the tzar's will. (Ivan the Terrible who turned into a dictator at the cost of thousands of lives of his subjects.) All this was in fact an allegorical representation of Russian reality of the '30s-'40s. No wonder that the second part of the film, were Eisenstein's protest against terror & totalitarian power was evident, was prohibited by Stalin's regime...

3. THE MASS AND INDIVIDUAL TERROR IN THE MIRROR OF THE RUSSIAN CINEMA-ART: The Stage of the '50s - Early '80s.

The aims of the lecture is - to define the place and role of the theme of mass & individual terror in the Russian cinema art of '50s - early '80s;

- to study the social, cultural, political, ideological context, directions, aims and tasks of the development of this theme, model of contents of films on the topic, their genre modifications, authors viewpoints, stylistics. The differences from the stage of '30s and '40s.

Content of the lecture:

The following stage may be divided into 2 main periods - Khrushchev’s 'thaw' (middle '50s - middle '60s) and Brezhnev's 'stagnation' (late '60s - early '80s). However with all differences & peculiarities of these periods, the cinema version of the theme of mass & individual terror was approximately the same: terror as it is was condemned, however the attitude towards the so-called 'revolutionary terror' was rather sympathetic...

Ïðî÷èòàéòå èíòåðåñíûå êíèãè î æèçíè...

Öåííîå çíàíèå ...

General social, cultural, political & ideological background of the '50s - early '80s:

- rejection of the class struggle within the country, declaration of the creation of the united Soviet people, who had no national, ethnic, class or race problems;

- official rejection of the idea of the world revolution & dictatorship of the proletariat;

declaration of the policy of 'peaceful coexistence of socialistic and capitalistic systems', keeping the so-called 'ideological struggle';

- liquidation of mass terror of the state against its own citizens, preserving local struggle with people who had their own opinion (B. Pasternak, A. Saharov, A. Solzhenitsyn and others);

- continuation of the industrialization (mainly of the hard & military industries). In fact rates of this development slowed down and it took less people's efforts;

until the beginning of the '80s, when crisis tendencies in the ineffective plans of the state economics began to show up because of the fall in oil prices;

- continuation of the intense adaptation of the communism ideology (in its new Lenin-orientated, post-Stalin variant), struggle with Christian ideology is less intense;

- continuation of the intense militarization of the country, unleashing war conflicts (in Africa and Asia), intervention in Hungary (1956) Czechoslovakia (1968);

supporting militaries, including communist regimes in the 3rd world countries.

The film industry that touched upon the theme of terror to support the state policy of the authoritarian Soviet regime was set the following propaganda tasks that served as the basis for the conceptions of author's of a film:

- to show that terror during the Civil War was forced and led to people's sufferings;

- to ignore or at least to conceal the true scale of mass terror in the '30s, concentrating mainly on the theme of war terror in the '40s;

- to convince the audience that the so-called 'revolutionary terror of Bolsheviks' was made with noble aims, and terrorists themselves were honest, true to their noble ideals, protectors of the rights of oppressed people;

- to condemn terrorists who highjack planes, ships and blow up bombs.

Genre modifications: drama (war, historical), western (seldom 'eastern'), - tragic comedy, melodrama. The style of the majority of such films was no more determined by the laws of socialistic realism. Along with very much traditional screen versions of 'Quiet Flows the Don', ' The Road of Sorrows' and 'Optimistic Tragedy' some daring adventure films like 'Elusive Avengers' and sometimes quite murderous westerns (“eastern”) by Samvel Gasparov appeared on the screen. In the latter films the action took place during the Civil War in Russia and mutual hatred of the fighting sides was shown as the inevitable genre rules of the game. The destruction of dozens of people was shown as some circus performance with fountains of blood.

The appearance of milder models of the interpretations of the terror, which lack the aggressive mercilessness and explicitly of the models of the 30's-40's;

terror towards the class enemies is still regarded as a positive one. However, often the accent is put on it being forced, temporal and sometimes even mistaken.

The dominating models of the film plots: terror towards the so-called 'enemies' (domestic & foreign) and terror of enemies against the authorities, its representatives & peaceful population.

The playwright stereotype of the films on the 'historical-revolutionary' topic: the poor are enthusiastic about the new rule by Bolsheviks, 'middle class' and intellectuals are uncertain;

terror, blood and war frighten them. But in the long run they understand, that Bolsheviks took repressive actions unwillingly in the name of the future happy life of working people. Thus, those who had doubts, begin to understand the rightness of the theory of revolutionary terror and dictatorship of proletariat ('The Road of Sorrows', etc.). Special gratitude is given by the authors of films to Special Commission VCK (Special Police Service);

men who, with 'clean hands', with fire and sword burn the 'enemy infections' (that is, millions of people) out of the Russian land ('The Operation 'Trust'', 'Peters', 'Born by the Revolution', 'The Failure', 'The Failure of the Operation 'Terror'', 'December, 20', etc.). An attempt by Alexander Askoldov in his drama 'Commissar' to disclose the true tragedy of the Civil War and antihuman nature of terror was mercilessly suppressed: the film was banned for 20 years. The same happened to Alexei German' (by the way, only hinted, coded) attempt to show in his film 'My Friend Ivan Lapshin' the work of the Special Policemen in the '30s.

Among the films that showed terror in its most dramatic & true nature was 'Run' (based on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov) and 'The Slave of Love'...

The playwright stereotype of WWII films stayed nearly the same that in the '40s but more true-to-life. For example, in the film 'Spiritually Strong', methods of the individual terror which were used against the Nazis during the WWII by the Russian secret agent Kuznetsov, were absolutely justified while his terror acts against the Nazi officers had a reversed effect: for each Nazi officer that was killed by Kuznetsov, fascists shot a hundred of Russians...

In films 'Sofia Perovskaya' and 'Executed at Dawn', terrorists who attempted to kill the Russian tsar were shown with sympathy. But in the 'The Sixth of July', the act of terrorism by the left-wing socialist-revolutionists, who killed the German ambassador in 1918 was condemned... Even more condemned were terrorist activities of the famous leader of socialists-revolutionists Boris Savinkov in films, as 'The Failure' and 'Operation 'Trust''... Of course, pure criminal terrorism ('The Pirates of the XX Century', 'The Fight in Snow-Storm') was condemned too. Though in the early '80s in the film 'A Story of a Stranger'), perhaps for the first time in the Russian film industry, not only the expediency of revolutionary individual terror, but also the moral qualities of revolutionists themselves were brought in question (it goes without saying that the main character was not a Bolshevik…).

In short, certain changes happened in the attitude towards the theme of the terror in the cinema, even though the clichs of the '30s-'40s milder models of showing terror reappeared. They lacked the furious mercilessness and flatness of the models of the '30s-'40s. Terror towards class enemies is still shown positively. However, the accent is on its forced, temporary and sometimes erroneous nature.

4. THE MASS AND INDIVIDUAL TERROR IN THE MIRROR OF THE RUSSIAN CINEMA-ART: The Stage of the late '80s -'90s.

The aims of the lecture is - to define the place and role of the theme of mass & individual terror in the Russian cinema art of the late '80s '90s;

- to study the social, cultural, political, ideological context, directions, aims and tasks of the development of this theme, model of contents of films on the topic, their genre modifications, authors viewpoints, stylistics. The differences from the stage of '30s, '40s, '50s-'70s.

Content of the lecture:

This stage can be divided into two main periods - Gorbachev's 'Perestroika' (1985-1991) and Yeltsin's reforms (1991 nowadays). These periods are different from each other in many ways. They are similar, however, in condemning the individual and mass terror, whatever form it takes.

General social, cultural, political and ideological background of the late '80s-'90s:

First Period - Gorbachev's declaration of 'Perestroika' and 'Glasnost', democracy, freedom of speech and improvement of socialism;

- official blame of mass and individual terror and rehabilitation of millions of innocent people who were convicted and imprisoned or shot;

- rejection of the ideological struggle and withdrawal of the troops from Afghanistan, declaration of the policy of disarmament;

- gradual rejection of the censorship and free exchange of people & ideas between the USSR and Western countries;

- economic and ideological crisis which led, in the long run, to the attempt of a conservative upheaval in the summer of 1991;

- the decay of the Soviet Union in 1991;

Second Period.

- the beginning of the economic reforms, the revival of the private property, 'shock therapy';

sudden division of the society between the few rich and many poor people;

- an attempt of coup-d'etat in the autumn of 1993;

- the crisis of reforms;

the war in Chechnya, an attempt to solve economic problems with the help of money borrowed from the West;

decay of the Russian industry;

- At this point, as the censorship was practically abolished, film producers got an opportunity for the first time to turn to the most vital themes that were banned before, such as the theme of mass terror and repression during the communism regime.

Below is the approximate list of ideas that served as the basis for the authors' conceptions of films on this topic:

- terror during the civil war, as the fratricidal war itself was the tragedy of the Russian people;

- mass terror of the '20s - early '50s was the consequence of an anti-human policy of Lenin and Stalin;

- terror, whatever form it takes, can not be justified, neither can be the ideology that gave start to it.